This scenario isn’t unfamiliar: Every major platform including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Netflix has been here — their high-profile user becomes the subject of heated backlash, leaving them under fierce, external pressure to act against them. How did this happen to Spotify and Joe Rogan?
The notorious internet personality Joe Rogan — who describes himself as “a stand-up comic, mixed martial arts fanatic, [and] psychedelic adventurer,” has no medical or journalistic background whatsoever. Instead, he is publicly sifting through conspiracies and misinformation. In doing so, he exposes an estimated 11 million listeners per episode to controversial, potentially dangerous people like vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone and fringe figures such as far-right radio show host, Alex Jones. Rogan has only gone as far to admit that he doesn’t “always get it right.”
In December 2009, “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast premiered, and by 2015, it had become one of the world’s most famous podcasts. By 2020, it was one of Spotify’s most lucrative multiyear licensing deals when it entered a $100 million contract with Rogan to exclusively stream his podcasts. In 2021, “The Joe Rogan Experience” ranked No. 1 in podcasts on Spotify. Rogan’s podcast isn’t quite like others on Spotify. There may never be a Spotify rep in the production space, but Spotify is the only place you can listen to “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
Margaret Sullivan, a media columnist for The Washington Post, argues that misinformation can create life or death situations.
“I don’t think that responsible journalists can undo the damage that is done by some of this rampant spreading of misinformation,” Sullivan said. “Where does Spotify draw the line? I think they should draw [the line] before they allow someone to spread a whole bunch of misinformation about COVID.” And arguably, that’s what Rogan continues to do.
Rogan actively discouraged young people from getting vaccinated, in an episode with comedian Dave Smith last April. “If you’re like 21 years old, and you say to me, ‘Should I get vaccinated?’ I’ll go no,” Rogan said.
Rogan supported the conspiracy theory that hospitals are financially incentivized to record coronavirus as a cause of death. He also promoted the use of antiparasitic medication ivermectin, which has been proven to neither prevent nor treat coronavirus symptoms.
It is a fact that the spread of misleading and false information online dissuades some from receiving vaccines, consequently resulting in hospitalizations and deaths.
The complicated landscape of this situation is more than a matter of debunking the discourse of misinformation. It is the question of whether corporations should be held accountable for censoring those who peddle it, whether it is intentional or not, such as in Rogan’s case.
Due to the First Amendment, exceptions to censorship are very narrowly defined. In the U.S., we have turned over the public sphere to corporations like Facebook, Twitter, and in this case, Spotify.
This leads to a larger debate around social networks’ responsibilities pertaining to content moderation. Moderating audio leads to greater concerns over censorship. So, the fundamental question remains: Is Spotify a platform, a publisher, or simply a distributor? With that overarching question, three experts find middle ground.
Eric Schiffer, an adviser to multiple Fortune 500 CEOs, noted that at its most basic level, Spotify is a platform.
“By being a platform, they are, in fact, serving as a publisher and as a distributor,” Schiffer said. “I mean, it’s a very blurry line. If they admit to being a publisher or think of themselves as a publisher, then the game changes and they have to be more accountable about what they are hosting and what they are distributing.”
Laurel Leff, an associate professor at Northeastern’s School of Journalism, teaches about the First Amendment. She argues that the Spotify conundrum is not actually a legal problem — the government cannot legally interfere with Spotify’s decisions.
“And it’s not a First Amendment problem, either. If you’re more of a platform, that would be where you just provide an opportunity for other people to post their speech. And therefore, you’re not really responsible for what they say,” Leff said.
Is Rogan a journalist? No. He has no journalistic experience or tendency to spread facts.
“For journalists […] when misinformation is out there, I think we have a corollary responsibility to report on the misinformation so that people know that it’s wrong and know that it’s circulating. And it’s all part of that same mission of truth-telling and getting factual information out to the public,” Sullivan said.
Is he a commentator? Over 270 medical professionals would argue otherwise, as penned in an open letter calling on Spotify to implement a misinformation policy in early January. The letter called out Rogan and his episodes for featuring guests known for disseminating and defending the circulation of misinformation. In their eyes, Rogan amplifies the voices of problematic commentators he puts on his show.
Is he an entertainer? Schiffer would argue that’s closest to describing what Rogan does. “Shows like his provide food for thought for people who then make their own decisions,” he said. “I don’t think he’s providing it as an attempt to persuade a specific approach. I think he’s providing an opportunity for people to learn, and platforms can then annotate that content if they find it to be objectionable.”
For the first time in its 16-year history, Spotify established rules creators must adhere to. Spotify will forbid content that advocates “dangerous, false, or deceptive medical information with the potential to inflict offline harm or threaten public health.” Spotify’s new approach to the spread of COVID misinformation is to implement new content advisories that aim to direct listeners to a website providing access to COVID guidelines, something Rogan, ironically, publicly agreed with.
While Spotify CEO Daniel Ek took sole responsibility for not being transparent around the policies that guide Spotify’s content, he failed to mention “The Joe Rogan Experience,” or if creators would be removed for spreading dangerous misinformation.
Much like other social platforms, Spotify is making a choice based on what is best for its brand. Despite the heat they are getting in the short term, the company is likely emboldened by the fact that they’re following similar protocols of other social platforms that successfully didn’t implode.
“I think what’s not acknowledged by the Joe Rogans of the world is that they have these huge, you know, almost cultlike followings,” Sullivan said. “They don’t accept the accountability and the responsibility of knowing that they are so influential. Imagine if they, you know, decided to really bear down on good information. What if Joe Rogan did that?”